Meno

1
Meno

• By Plato

2

• Meno How will you inquire into something,
  Socrates, when you dont at all know what it is?
  
• Will you lay out a thing before us and then try
  to find it?
• Or, if at best you meet it by chance, how will
  you know this is that which you did not know?
• 8od5-8

3

• Socrates (to boy)
• If the length of each side of a square is kept
  equal, the area of a square is x.

2 feet
2 feet
4

• Socrates If you half the length of one side
  of the square, what is the area now?
• Boy Half.

2 feet
1 foot
5

• Socrates So how do we get a square with double
  the area?
• Boy Double the length of each side

4 feet
4 feet
6

• Socrates (to Meno)
• See, the boy thinks he knows the answer, but he
  doesnt. But he has the beliefs that guide him
  in his inquiry.
• The lack of knowledge per se does not prevent
  inquiry, as belief is the only pre-requisite.